House Baratheon is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, although also one of the youngest. It is the current royal house.

House Baratheon's sigil is a black stag on a gold background and their house motto is "Ours is the Fury". When Robert ascended the Iron Throne, a gold crown was added to the stag, denoting their status as the royal house.

The ancestral Baratheon stronghold is Storm's End, but since becoming the royal house they have also taken possession of the old Targaryen island fortress of Dragonstone, while the King rules from the city of King's Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.

When the War of the Five Kings began following King Robert Baratheon's death, House Baratheon became divided into three distinct factions: one led by Robert's alleged son (who is actually the product of an incestuous sexual relationship between Cersei and Jaime Lannister), Joffrey; one led by his younger brother, Stannis; and one led by his youngest brother, Renly. As a result of Renly's murder and the casualties suffered at the Battle of the Blackwater, the majority of House Baratheon's surviving lords and bannermen are now sworn to Stannis, though much of the Stormlands are occupied by the forces of Tommen Baratheon (Joffrey's younger brother and successor after his assassination).

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House Baratheon was founded by Orys Baratheon, a general in the army of King Aegon I Targaryen, the Conqueror. Orys Baratheon was also rumored to be Aegon's bastard half-brother. He defeated Argilac the Arrogant, the last of the Storm Kings, and captured his castle of Storm's End. He also captured Argilac's daughter, Argalia, and took her as his wife. For his accomplishments, Orys was made Lord of Storm's End and founder of House Baratheon.

When House Baratheon became the new royal dynasty, the House's heraldry was slightly altered, adding a crown to the a black stag on a gold field.[2]

With Robert Baratheon leaving for King's Landing to rule all of the Seven Kingdoms from the Iron Throne, he left his youngest brother Renly Baratheon, who was only a child at the time, to rule the seat of House Baratheon at Storm's End. Meanwhile, he appointed his middle brother Stannis Baratheon as Lord of Dragonstone island, the ancestral seat of House Targaryen. This also made Stannis the lord of several minor outlying islands of the Crownlands which were in Blackwater Bay. Many saw this as an insult to Stannis, as windswept and isolated Dragonstone was not as wealthy or prestigious as Storm's End, the capital of the Stormlands. However, Stannis was a proven military commander and a loyal vassal of his experience was needed to rein in Dragonstone, where many of the most die-hard Targaryen loyalist Houses were located.

Robert in the Iron Throne

It isn't exactly clear how King Robert envisioned dividing up his possessions for future generations of House Baratheon, or if he even had a plan. It isn't clear if he meant to permanently unite the Crownlands around King's Landing with the Stormlands around Storm's End (which do border the Crownlands). Alternatively, he might have handed off Storm's End and the Stormlands to a cadet branch of House Baratheon formed by Stannis or Renly's children, while Robert's own "children" ruled the Crownlands. There's even the possibility that Robert intended to cut his younger brothers out of the succession entirely, and have the rule of the Stormlands pass to his younger "son" Tommen. Whatever plans Robert may have had were swept away by the outbreak of war upon his unexpected death.

Seventeen years after he was crowned king, Robert Baratheon died of a wound taken on a boar hunt. Secretly, his death was actually the result of Queen Cersei having his wine spiked to make sure he would be too drunk to defend himself on the hunt.

The sigil of Joffrey's "House Baratheon of King's Landing"

His eldest son, Joffrey Baratheon, was crowned King on the Iron Throne, but his rule was soon contested by those who claimed that he was born of incest between Queen Cersei and her twin brother, Jaime, including both of Robert's brothers. This directly led to the outbreak of the conflict which would become known as the War of the Five Kings. Just as the war tore apart the Seven Kingdoms into different factions following different kings, in microcosm, House Baratheon itself has been torn between three rival heirs claiming the succession:

Joffrey Baratheon, crowned king on the Iron Throne, continued to rule the cadet branch of House Baratheon formed by King Robert, "House Baratheon of King's Landing". However, with the spread of rumors revealing that Joffrey is not Robert's son but a bastard of incest between Cersei and Jaime Lannister, none of the lords of the Stormlands declared for him.

The sigil of Stannis's "House Baratheon of Dragonstone"

Stannis Baratheon formed his own cadet branch, "House Baratheon of Dragonstone", and claimed the kingship as Robert's eldest surviving brother and thus legal heir. Robert had several bastard children but by definition none of them could inherit his rule. However, as an unpopular and stern man, hardly any of the Houses from the Stormlands declared for Stannis.

The sigil adopted by King Renly I for his faction in the War of the Five Kings mirrored his alliance with House Tyrell.

Flouting tradition, Robert's younger brother Renly Baratheon declared himself king ahead of his older brother Stannis. Almost all of the lords of Houses in the Stormlands declared for Renly, who also continued to hold Storm's End itself. As a further insult to Stannis, Renly didn't even bother officially forming his own cadet branch, instead claiming dominion over all of "House Baratheon". To strengthen his military and political position, Renly entered into a marriage-alliance with the powerful House Tyrell of the Reach, by wedding Margaery Tyrell. For his personal sigil, and the sigil of his faction in the war, Renly altered the original color scheme of the sigil of House Baratheon. Instead of the black crowned stag on a yellow field, Renly's banner displayed a golden crowned stag on a field of green, a nod to the color scheme of his new wife's powerful family, House Tyrell.

Renly was subsequently assassinated and left no heirs. All of the noble Houses of the Stormlands that had declared for Renly then grudgingly switched their allegiance to Stannis as the only surviving Baratheon brother, as the Tyrells abandoned them claiming (accurately) that Stannis had something to do with Renly's death. Stannis assembled his new armies into a massive assault in King's Landing, the Battle of the Blackwater. However, Stannis' forces were crushed in the assault by the timely arrival of Tywin Lannister and Loras Tyrell, heralding the new Lannister-Tyrell alliance. Most of the military strength of the Stormlands was crushed in the battle, though Stannis himself was able to escape back to Dragonstone with a handful of remaining troops. Stannis lost most of the Stormlands as a result of the battle: with their military strength spent, the Houses of the Stormlands were too weak to resist Joffrey's armies and bent the knee. Some of Renly's old supporters who were never fond of Stannis even actively switched to Joffrey's side.

At this point, in terms of the family, there is no unified "House Baratheon" as there was before the war. Stannis is indeed the legal heir of the previous House, but he has formed his own cadet branch with new heraldry. Joffrey, along with his younger sister Myrcella and younger brother Tommen, are all bastards and not actual "Baratheons". Aside from being a bastard, Joffrey also leads his own cadet branch with different heraldry, not the original "House Baratheon". Thus the only surviving members of the Baratheon family are Stannis, his wife, and his only child, his daughter Shireen Baratheon.

In terms of "House Baratheon", the political entity ruling over the Stormlands, they have been largely crushed and subdued by Joffrey's forces. Stannis continues to possess the holdings he had before Renly died, Dragonstone and a few other minor islands in Blackwater Bay. However, a garrison continues to hold the impregnable castle of Storm's End itself in Stannis's name.

Note: Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are claimed to be the children of King Robert Baratheon, but actually are born of incest between Queen Cersei and her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister. Thus, Stannis is Robert's lawful heir.

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Orys Baratheon was the rumored bastard half-brother of King Aegon I Targaryen, the conqueror of the Seven Kingdoms. Orys led an army which slew the last of the Storm Kings, Argilac the Arrogant, and captured his castle of Storm's End. For his loyal service, Orys was made a lord and allowed to found his own Great House, marrying the daughter of Argilac and taking his sigil and words for his own. At just under 300 years, this makes House Baratheon the youngest by far of the Great Houses.

House Baratheon has ruled over the tempest-wracked southeastern shores of Westeros, the area known as the Stormlands, ever since. It has produced a number of great and notable warriors, such as Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the Laughing Storm, and married into the royal House Targaryen several generations ago.

When Robert Baratheon's betrothed, Lyanna Stark, was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, he was enraged and raised his banners in rebellion against King Aerys II, along with Lyanna's brother (and Robert's best friend) Eddard Stark. They were joined by several other houses in a civil war known as Robert's Rebellion. Robert's army smashed the royal host at the Battle of the Trident and put it to rout. The treachery of House Lannister delivered the capital at King's Landing to Robert. With Lyanna killed during the war, Robert agreed to marry Cersei Lannister in gratitude for her father's pledge of fealty.

Robert became King and he made his brother Stannis (one year younger than him) the Lord of Dragonstone, the ancestral island stronghold of the Targaryens, and his youngest brother Renly (fifteen years younger) lord of the familial seat at Storm's End.

In a very minor difference to the books, the TV series spells "Argilac" as "Argalic". It is not clear if this is an error or a deliberate change. Another difference is that, after crowning himself King, Renly doesn't alter the colors of the Baratheon sigil.

Following the death of Robert and Renly, the only surviving members of House Baratheon are Stannis, his wife, and his daughter Shireen. No mention has been made in the five current novels of any surviving cousins, who might make claim to rule of House Baratheon. Robert is rumored to have fathered over a dozen bastards, but they are not considered legitimate heirs. Robert does have one acknowledged bastard, Edric Storm, whom he acknowledged because his mother was a member of the nobility. Robert had no part in raising him, instead sending him to foster at Storm's End.

In the TV series, their banner depicts a stag with a crown around its neck, while in the novels, the crown is above its head. The original stag sigil used by House Durrandon had a crown, but when Orys Baratheon took the sigil for his own the crown was removed because the Baratheons were not kings under the Targaryens. The crown was only added back nearly three centuries later, after Robert deposed the Targaryens and usurped the Iron Throne. Even in the TV series, during Bran Stark's history lesson in Season 1, he explicitly states that the stag in Baratheon heraldry only gained a crown after Robert became king.

Houses sworn to House Baratheon in the books, yet to appear in the series: